Facebook-owned Oculus VR is aiming for the former with its new VR for Good initiative, which aims to make virtual reality an instrument of social change.

"Virtual reality has unlimited potential for gaming and entertainment, but it's also a powerful way to drive important social change," the company said in a blog post. "Filmmakers everywhere see this and are pushing the boundaries of cinematic VR to tell stories with an impact. There's also a large community of nonprofit organizations eager to embrace VR as a tool to raise awareness for causes in need of a voice."

The effort will launch with two pilot VR film programs. The first, called the 360 Filmmakers Challenge, will bring together nine San Francisco Bay Area high schools and professional filmmakers to collaborate on a three-to-five-minute VR video about their communities. Each school will be outfitted with a Samsung Gear VR, as well as a Samsung Galaxy S6, and Ricoh's Theta S 360 cameras.

At the end of the six-week program, Oculus will post the student videos on Facebook and in Oculus Video.

Oculus is also prepping a 360 Bootcamp for Nonprofits pilot. That program, which kicks off this summer, will develop teams featuring 10 "rising filmmakers" and 10 nonprofits, which will create films in virtual reality that are aimed at highlighting their "social missions."

"Teams will start their filmmaking journey at a two-day bootcamp at Facebook HQ, July 26-27," Oculus said. "We'll supply the film teams with everything they need to create professional 360 videos, including Nokia OZO cameras, post-production support, travel budget, and one-on-one mentorship with industry veterans."

Nonprofits can nominate their organizations and filmmakers can apply for 360 Bootcamp starting on May 30; sign up to be reminded. The first videos will be unveiled at Sundance 2017.

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"We look forward to seeing how these students and filmmakers impact important causes through creative VR work, and to expanding VR for Good to even more programs this year," the company added.

While the move is an attempt by Oculus to expand its horizons and give back to the community, it could also benefit the company's efforts in virtual reality. It's currently competing against a wide range of competitors, including HTC and Sony, but getting more people engaged with Oculus, not to mention creating more content for the platform, could go a long way in helping the Facebook-owned firm achieve its goals.

The New York Times, meanwhile, delivered more than a million Google Cardboard devices to home delivery subscribers last year so they could watch The Displaced, an NYT Magazine film about three refugee children. This month, they have a similar effort planned for Seeking Pluto's Frigid Heart, a stereoscopic virtual reality video that flies users over the dwarf planet.

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